The lemur and the penguin
by fanfictiongoddess
Summary: In a world separated by different kingdoms of animal humanoids, Kowalski is considered to be from the more barbaric lands. Accidentally proving to some slavers his kind are not barbarians , Kowalski must find a way to save his homeland. That's hard to do
1. Chapter 1

Note: This story is quite AU in the world and the fact that the characters are humanoid animals. Their human like, but with some animal details to them. For example, Julien still has lemur ears and tail.

He didn't belong here, that much Kowalski knew. For one thing it was entirely too hot in the jungle lands. Penguin humanoids were not made for this kind of heat. He was half sure the heat was why he wasn't able to think of a way out of his situation so far.

Never had he thought he end up captured by lemur humanoids and become an item in the slave trade. Thinking back on it, he realized how stupid and naive he had been when he was caught by the slavers. He had been the one to approach the covered slave wagon, not realizing what it was. It was him who helped the lemur humanoids fix the broken wagon wheel and made the mistake of speaking to them.

How was he to know that the humanoids of the Lemur kingdom were under the impression those from the snow lands were not capable of speech or reasonable thinking? He didn't know where they had gotten such a ridiculous idea. It had however served as a good way to keep the slavers from targeting his kind as they thought his kind was too stupid and barbaric to do anything useful. Kowalski had ruined those thoughts in a few words and one act.

So now, he sat on a hard, wooden bench in the wagon. His wrists were cuffed to the side of the bench, keeping him from getting up and attempting to somehow get through the bars blocking the exit of the wagon. He was the only one left in the wagon now, the other slaves having already been sold. In truth, he was unsure of why he had not been brought to the auction block like them. He frown when it occurred to him that they were saving him for something.

Though curious about that, he knew he wouldn't ask the slavers what exactly the plan was for him. He had messed things up enough by speaking to them and showing his skills. Besides, maybe if he did not speak to them again, they would feel they made a mistake. Not likely, but it was worth a shot. He didn't even look up when the wagon suddenly stopped and one of the slavers came into the back.

Looking over Kowalski, the slaver snorted.

"You can stop the act, you know. It's not as if we all imagined you spoke to us and fixed the cart wheel. So you might as well speak and react." the slaver said as he walked over to Kowalski with a set of manacles.

Kowalski still did not reply. He let the annoyed looking slaver uncuff his wrists from the bench, and then shackle them again with the manacles. Grabbing the chain between the manacles, the slaver pulled Kowalski to his feet violently.

"Look you, don't play this game with me. Not now. If you embarrass me in front of the king, you will be sorry." the slaver hissed as he pulled Kowalski along.

Still, Kowalski said nothing and made no expression. In his mind though, he was quite nervous. King? The slavers were bringing them to their kinds king? This did not bode well.

Despite trying not to make any reactions to anything, he couldn't help but grimace at the sudden sunlight assaulting his eyes after being in the dark wagon for some time. Plus the heat was even more unbearable now that he was out of any shade.

It took a moment, but Kowalski's eyes adjusted to the sunlight. Once that happened, he could see the grand palace. To anyone else it probably didn't look foreboding. However, the sight of the place made him nervous. He rather dreaded whatever was about to come in the next hour or so.

He kept his head down and walked silently down the long hall. The slaver seemed quite unhappy with the way Kowalski was behaving. Still, he pulled Kowalski into what Kowalski assumed was the throne room.

It turned out Kowalski was correct in that assumption as at the end of the room was a throne. The ring tailed lemur humanoid sleeping in the throne did not look very royal to Kowalski though. The snoring didn't help matters either.

"Umm, I'm here to offer something special to the king." the slaver said to another lemur standing next to the king's throne.

"I see. I'll wake him up then... though he probably won't be very happy." the lemur said.

With that, the lemur spoke into the king's long, erect ear.

"Your majesty, wake up." the lemur said.

"Five more minutes, Maurice." the king murmured.

Maurice sighed, use to this it seemed.

"Mort got into your smoothie stash again." Maurice said, stepping back away from the throne quickly after saying that.

Almost instantly the king jolted up in his throne, looking around franticly.

"What!? Where is he? I will be of the beating him black and purple...or is that black and blue? I am of the forgetting of how that phrase goes." the king said.

The slaver saw this as his chance to speak. He bowed his head to the king.

"King Julien, I come before you to offer you a gift and wonderful information." the slaver said.

Kowalski nearly choked on his own spit. He was a gift to their king? This was turning out worse then he had thought it would be. Still, he kept silent and his expression neutral.

"Oh, I am liking gifts! Information.. eh, so-so." Julien said.

"The information has to do with the gift. You see, me and my companions have learned that the beings from the snow lands are not as barbaric as we thought. They can speak and do simple tasks." the slaver said.

Kowalski nearly snorted. If fixing the wheel had been a simple job, why couldn't the slavers do it themselves. He would have loved to voice that little opinion, but didn't. He made no signs he was even comprehending what was going on in the room when Julien looked his way.

"He is not looking so useful to me." Julien said.

"That's because he is acting like he can't speak or understand us. But I can get him to at least speak." the slaver said as he pulled a knife from his belt.

Kowalski couldn't help it. His eyes widened at the sight of the large bladed knife. He was about to back away when the slaver swiped. It took Kowalski a moment to realize it wasn't him who had been cut by the knife but his shirt, which fell to the floor.

Julien couldn't help but stare a little at the bare chested penguin humanoid. Though Julien was not aware of the fact, each penguin humanoid feather patch pattern was different, he found the swirled feather patches on Kowalski's shoulders, neck, and stomach to be a work of art.

"You have one more chance to speak before I hurt you." the slaver said, unfurling a whip from his belt now.

Though not looking forward to being whipped, Kowalski still said nothing. His kind counted on his silence. He closed his eyes when the slaver pulled back to lash the whip.

"There is no need for that." Julien said suddenly, surprising both the slaver and Kowalski. "It's obvious that you were wrong about this... thing, and that it can't speak or do simple tasks. I am meaning, it's obviously an stupid creature."

At those words something snapped in Kowalski. He suddenly lifted his head to face Julien and yelled.

"Stupid? Do you know how many time I've heard that in the last few days? The answer is a lot. But let me tell you something you ring tailed oaf, I am anything but stupid!"

There was silence in the throne room now. It didn't take long for Kowalski to realize his error and he inwardly cursed himself. It had not been pain that made him make his kind a target now. It was his own pride in his intelligence that did it. Inside , Kowalski felt sick to his stomach.

The room was still silent for a moment long until Julien spoke.

"I am... thinking he is not stupid."


	2. Chapter 2

The silence broken, the slaver smiled.

"I told you he could speak. He's also capable of simple tasks. Seems his kind is more useful then anyone thought." the slaver said.

"Your either stupid or insane if you think me or my kind would ever accept servitude." Kowalski growled.

The slaver glanced at Kowalski and shrugged.

"I don't know about the rest of your kind, but your attitude isn't my problem anymore. At least, it's not if the king accepts you." the slaver said.

"I accept. Even if he is the refusing to work, he would be making a good pet. After all, no one else is having one of these penguin thingys around." Julien said.

"Pet!?" Kowalski yelled, starting to step up to the throne. "Neither me or my kind are pets! You have no right to-"

Kowalski may have very well made it to the throne if the slaver had not grabbed his arm and pulled him back. Julien did not seem concerned about Kowalski's anger at all.

"No right? As king, I am having every right." Julien said before calling for his guards. " Bring this penguin to be cleaned up. While you are being at it, make him look nice."

Before Kowalski could say anything, two guards stepped over to him and took him by the arms. Despite his struggles, he was easily dragged off. He was forced along down the throne room hall and to another hallway.

Soon he was forced into another room. This one was a light blue, tiled room. In the middle of the room was a large, pool like tub in the floor. Already waiting were some other lemur attendants. The guards unlocked Kowalski's manacles before pushing him forward to the attendants.

"You'll want to take off the rest of your clothes." one of the attendants said.

Kowalski tensed, backing up a little.

"What?" he nearly squeaked.

"It would be hard to bathe when your wearing clothes, don't you think?" the shorter of the attendants said.

"Yes, I know that. What I mean is... can I just wash up alone?" Kowalski asked.

"Absolutely not. You want to put us out of a job? Besides, you'll probably try to escape the moment your left alone." the shorter attendant said.

Kowalski wouldn't admit it out loud, but the thought of attempting to escape when left alone had crossed his mind. He tried to think of a way to get out of this or at least stall. But the attendants looked serious and the guards looked like they were getting impatient with him. With a sigh, he slowly removed the rest of his clothes.

Without being told, he slipped into the tub. He wasn't expecting the water to feel as good as it did. After being in the heat so long, the cold water felt wonderful to him. It was such a relief, he almost didn't notice when the attendants poured water over his head and began to lather shampoo in his short, black hair.

He wouldn't have noticed at all if the strong, sweet scent of the shampoo hadn't caused him to gag. It was not as if the snow lands had any fragrant plants, so his senses were not use to the smell. Nose feeling like it was burning, he looked up to the taller attendants.

"Could you maybe use something less fragrant? That smell is over powering." Kowalski asked.

The taller attendant tilted his head.

"Your complaining about the smell of the shampoo? How odd, normally people complain about the temperature of the water. As for fragrance, this is the least fragrant shampoo we have." the taller attendant said.

Kowalski sighed. Of course it was. It was not as if things had been going his way as of late. He just hoped that eventually things would go his way long enough for him to escape. He hoped that would happen anyways.

Julien was laying back on his throne, sipping a mango smoothie. He had not need to have Mort beaten as Maurice had informed him that Mort had not in fact gotten into his smoothie stash. Too bad. He would have liked to have a reason to beat Mort.

The only reason Mort was even allowed in the palace walls was because he was the son of a noble. A rather loyal and rich noble that even Julien did not want to offend. If Mort had been anyone else, he would be out on the street in no time.

Julien was vaguely wondering where Mort was at this moment anyways when a guard entered the throne room. He bowed before Julien before speaking.

"Your majesty, the attendants have finished cleaning your new pet up." the guard said.

Looking up at the door now, Julien saw Kowalski, then nearly dropped his smoothie. It seemed Kowalski cleaned up well. He was still bare chested, but wore a pair of black leggings for his lower half. Around his wrists he wore gold bracers. The left bracer had a white jewel in it's center and the right have a green one. Finally, a simple, gold hoop was set in his newly pierced left ear.

Julien was becoming more and more glad that he made the decision to keep Kowalski.

Skipper was on guard. He always was on guard. Even when dealing with duties in the village he was already for any possible battles. It was a wise thing for him to do, considering the Polar Bear clan was always on their yearly move to new hunting lands. They were unpredictable at times, and we as likely to trade with the Penguin clan just as easily as they would attack.

Attacks were less frequent since Skipper had became leader of the Penguin clan. He had proven himself to be a worthy opponent to the warriors to the Polar Bear clan. While the Polar Bear clan was violent, they wouldn't attack strong opponents without good reason.

It didn't hurt to be careful though. The last thing he wanted was harm to come to his fellow villagers. He took a moment to glance around the village and it's inhabitants to check if any trouble was going on there. There didn't seem to be problems. In fact, it was an almost serene scene.

Villagers were going about their duties. Some hunting for fish in among the ice floes nearby, some working on weapons or other useful items. The children were more concerned with playing. Skipper noted that Private was the one keeping an eye on the children today. He seemed to do that often. Not that Skipper blamed him for taking that job. He was only a little older then a child himself after all.

For a moment longer, Skipper watched all this from his perch on a small cliff side. He then turned back to the horizon, a cold wind whipping into him as he did. He didn't mind the cold, as was his species. The snow getting in his eyes was an annoyance though. Once he cleared his eyes, he noticed a group heading his way.

A rather foolish and colorful group. If they had planned on sneaking up on their village, wearing bright colored jackets against an white background was not the way to do it. Obviously these beings were foreigners. He couldn't tell their species as they were far away still and their jackets did hide features.

Not being the most trusting of creatures, Skipper had a bad feeling. He slid down the slope of the hill that lead to the cliff and called out.

"Rico, gather the warriors! Private, get the children and everyone else to safety!" Skipper cried.

No one questioned Skipper's orders. There weren't even questions on why. Questions in some situations could stall and get some people killed. As the penguin humanoids scattered to follow Skipper's orders, he looked back to the horizon. He may not know who these beings were and what they wanted, but he knew that if it came down it, he would defend his home. By any means necessary.

It had only been three days and already Kowalski was already hating the place. While he was allowed in some parts of the palace, he always had a guard with him when he did. That of course was obviously to keep him from just finding the nearest first floor window and going out it. He hadn't think escape would be that easy, but it still annoyed him to always be shadowed by someone.

Not that he got to explore the palace much. Julien seemed to enjoy having Kowalski by his side. So for most of his time at the palace he had been sitting on a large pillow next to Julien's throne. Nothing but an rare pet that Julien wanted to show off.

At one point Julien had put a hand on Kowalski's head, as if to pet him. The glare Kowalski had given him must have been quite frightening because Julien had immediately pulled his hand away. That had given Kowalski a small sense of satisfaction at least.

When Kowalski wasn't being shown off or walking around the palace escorted, he was in his room. He couldn't complain about the room really. While much of the furniture in the room seemed strange to him, it still looked nice. The bed was comfortable too, though he never used the covers. The place was hot enough. He didn't need blankets.

The biggest problem though was the food. Truthfully, he had not had any of his normal diet since being captured by the slavers. When in the slavers so called care, he was just given small amounts of bread. The food at the palace was better then that. He was sure to the lemur humanoids that the fruit was exotic or pricey. To Kowalski, the food was just not very good.

He also suspected it wasn't serving his nutritional needs. Which was why he had not eaten much since he got to the palace. Kowalski was starting to think not eat much of his breakfast this morning had not been a good idea. Many times so far in the day he had felt light headed and weak. He said nothing about this to Julien. It was not as if the king truly cared about his problems. The ring tailed lemur humanoid didn't ask for his name.

Kowalski wouldn't have given his name to Julien anyways. Not his true name. No one in the Penguin clans ever gave their true names out to strangers. The belief that giving your true name out could give someone a way to have power over the person they had the true name of. While Kowalski was not one for superstition, he wasn't going to chance anything.

So he kept silent now, watching Julien speak with a messenger. Another light headed spell hit, making it hard to listen now. He hardly heard a thing the messenger had said, his voice sounding almost far away. In fast, Julien was sounding far away too.

"Yes, yes, I know. Be telling Blowhole that-" Julien started with his reply to the messenger.

He didn't finish his reply before Kowalski suddenly fainted.


	3. Chapter 3

Note: I just want to say I enjoy all the nice comments I've gotten. And thanks to halfhuman123 for pointing out my typo ridden second chapter. Not sure what was going on in my head that day, but i'm going to fix that later.

Anyways, your not here for author notes, are you? Here's the next chapter.

When Kowalski came to, everything was still hazy. He heard words being spoken, but couldn't make them out just yet. He wasn't even sure who was speaking. Kowalski just knew he felt the sensation of sitting in water. Cold water thankfully. Slowly, things became more in focus.

"I think he's awake, your majesty." Maurice said.

"What happened?" Kowalski asked, his voice raspy.

"You fainted." a voice he had not heard before said.

Turning his head to the direction of the voice, he came face to face with a young lemur, about a few years out of childhood. Kowalski gave a yelp of surprise when seeing him. Not because he hadn't expected the voice owner to be so close, but because his eyes were freakishly big.

"Mort! Be moving your face away from him!" Julien said, looking as if he was about to push away the young mouse lemur humanoid but thought twice about it. That would require touching Mort.

"Sorry." Mort said, pulling away from Kowalski.

Kowalski took this moment to take in his surroundings. He was in the blue tiled room he was been brought in his first day here. The tub he was sitting now was filled with cold water. After a moment, Kowalski glanced up at the lemurs in the room.

"You were, how to say, very hot to the touch." Julien said. "So I was thinking, cold water would be helping."

"I'm surprised you were capable to come to that conclusion." Kowalski said.

Maurice looked taken back by Kowalski's snide remark, but Julien cut him off with his own response.

"Yes, yes. I am being quite good at surprises." Julien said, not looking insulted at all.

Kowalski stared in a blank way for a moment. It seemed that the king did not know when he had been insulted. Maurice seemed to let the whole thing go since Julien wasn't bothered. No need to tell Julien anything that would upset him.

"I was worried for a moment there-" Julien started.

"Were you?" Kowalski said. This time, there was no mistake of snideness in his voice and even Julien realized something was wrong. "I find it hard to believe you were worried when you hardly noticed anything about me. That I don't like the heat very much, that I don't eat too much of the fruit I've been offered. You haven't even asked for my name since I've been here! Not that I'd give it to someone like you."

The lemurs in the room were shocked into silence. Julien mainly was silent because he did not know how to respond to that. Maurice and the guards were waiting for Julien's reaction. Mort was the first one to speak.

"I think he's angry." Mort said.

Julien glared at Mort.

"Why are you even in here?" Julien asked.

"Because your here." Mort said with a grin.

This might have been amusing to Kowalski if he wasn't having another bout of light headiness.

"You said you didn't really eat the food given to you. Why?" Maurice asked, trying to diffuse the situation.

"Fruit really isn't in my diet. My kind's diet consists mainly of fish." Kowalski said.

"Ugh, fish! They are slippy and slimy and smell really bad." Julien said with a look of disgust on his face. "But... if that is what you are needing to eat, that will be given to you."

Kowalski merely nodded. After a moment, Julien spoke again.

"So... what is your name?" Julien asked.

"I told you, I will not give my name to you. That requires trust, and I don't trust you." Kowalski said.

With that Kowalski fell silent and just enjoyed the cold water, ignoring Julien's confused look.

Standing firm, Skipper watched as intruders approached. As they did, Skipper was trying to figure out their species. They were too short and thin to be polar bear humanoids. Not that the Polar Bear clan would be caught dead in colorful clothing. They too understood the importance of camouflage in their surroundings.

They were not Walrus clan either. That was easy enough to tell as the Walrus clan was known for their long tusks. It was too bad it wasn't the Walrus clan. Normally the clan was not known for violence. Skipper also was on good terms with the current leader of the Walrus clan.

Both clans ruled out, it was obvious they were dealing with an unknown. That made him more cautious. While these beings seemed inept and weak, they could still surprise him. Better to figure out what they were capable of before letting some of his guard down. He signaled for the warriors to stay in their places for now.

"Stop right there! What clan are you from?" Skipper called out once the strangers were in talking distance.

For a moment the strangers looked to each other, not sure how to answer that question. In truth, the slavers had hoped to sneak up on a village and then attack. They had not expected any of the barbarians to be ready for them.

"I asked you a question." Skipper snarled.

Rico gave a slight snarl from behind Skipper, keeping his eyes on the enemy. Skipper was sure Rico was looking forward to a battle. After all, Rico had spent most of his childhood in the care of the polar bear clan. From that experience, he was the more violence prone member of the penguin clan. He was even proud of the scar he had over his right eye. Goddess and spirits of the ice help the intruders if they had to fight and Rico went into beserker mode.

" Take down a few, but leave at least a couple alive." the leader of the slavers said to the rest of his group.

The slavers nodded and pulled out metal objects that looked odd to the penguin clan. No one in the penguin clan had heard of a gun, much less seen one. So none of the warriors were prepared when the slavers opened fire.

Skipper was just about to give the order to attack when the guns went off. To the warriors credit, none of them broke away and ran even when the loud bang from the guns sounded. Some jumped and lost their concentration Most of the ones that fell, a splash of red staining their chest feathers, were the ones who stood firm.

A bullet buried itself in Skipper's left arm. Though the pain was unexpected and perhaps the worse pain he ever felt, he gritted his teeth and yelled out.

"Attack!"

Though frightened by the sight of a few of their fellow warriors laying dead so quickly, the remaining warriors attacked. Even as he bled, Skipper charged forward as well. He was not about to let his warriors to go into battle and stand by, even if he was in pain.

Rico seemed to understand that the bullets were the danger and not the guns themselves, first. Lifting up his curved,bone blades he blocked a bullet and sent it ricocheting back to it's owner. The slaver who shot did not expect such an action and fell instantly as the bullet hit him in the forehead.

The slaver's needing a moment to reload their guns after each shot and Rico's strategy were the penguins saving grace. For awhile at least. Skipper nearly cringed when he saw more warriors fall. He was use to carnage, yes. But not even the worse Polar Bear clan attack had taken so many good warriors down so fast.

It didn't help that he was starting to suffer from blood loss. His sight was hazy and his slashes with his bone blade just were not where he wanted them to be. Still, he would not stop fighting. He was sure he was going to go down this battle. But he wanted to go out fighting.

A slaver aimed his gun at Skipper, ready to make a killing shot as Skipper fended off a slaver that had ran out of ammo and took to his dagger. He was about to pull the trigger when a loud bellow was heard. The slaver turned, only to get slashed in the face by a polar bear humanoid.

Skipper was just as shocked as the slavers to see the polar bear humanoid, who he knew to be the leader of the polar bear clan, here. He was also shocked to see many other members of the polar bear clan. For a moment, Skipper thought that maybe the polar bear clan was taking advantage of the fight and were going to wipe them all out. However, a curt nod from the leader told Skipper that for once, the polar bear clan was on their side.

After nodding back, Skipper fell to his knees. He heard the war bellow of the polar bear clan before he slid into darkness.


	4. Chapter 4

Two day later, things had gotten into a new pattern. While he still spent most of his day by Julien's side, he was given some time to take a swim in the indoor pool. This was a great relief to him as he had not truly swam in sometime. Not to mention the cold water helped cool him off. With fish back in his diet, he was feeling better as well.

Feeling better physically anyways. Dealing with all this otherwise was still tough for him to accept. Not that he wanted to accept it. The last thing he was going to do was lay down and give up. Even though he had never been the strongest or fastest of the penguin clan, he wasn't a push over either.

As he floated on his back in the pool, he thought of his home. He missed it. Never did he expect to be kept away from his home so long when he left the village. One could say that leaving the village that day and traveling as far as he did was a bad idea. At the time it seemed to be the only thing to do. After all, a guide spirit had came before him.

He closed his eyes as he thought back to that day...

Kowalski peered out over the ice floe, checking the water as was necessary before jumping into the water. To jump in first without looking could be a form of suicide. One never knew if a spotted titan seal was cruising the waters. The creatures were huge, and with their vicious appetite and sharp teeth, they were a big danger to all clans.

Not seeing any sign of the dreaded creatures, Kowalski was ready to jump in. It was then he noticed a thick fog forming around him and the feeling of being watched. He turned his back to the water, looking for what was watching him. Then he saw it.

Little was known of the snow caribou that traveled the snow lands. The stories say that when the ice deities handed out the power of speech and reason, the snow caribou could not all agree if they would take the gift or not. So they stayed the way they were, eventually growing to be mindless creatures like the fish. Something to be hunted and to be used to survive in the hostile Snow Lands.

Yet, it's said the goddess of home and herth felt pity for them, as not all the snow caribou had agreed to this fate. So she gave sentience to a select few of the snow caribou. Those particular snow caribou were marked by their pure, white fur. Because of that, it was considered an evil deed to hunt or purposely harm an white snow caribou. Not to mention it was said it was bad luck to hurt them.

To see one was said to be a good omen. So Kowalski was quite excited when he spotted the female,white snow caribou walking towards him from the fog. For a moment he stood in awe, watching the creature as it watched him. The snow caribou suddenly pawed at the snow with it's left front hoof and turned away, heading back into the fog. Kowalski expected that to be it. But the Snow Caribou paused and looked back at it.

Kowalski realized that it wanted him to follow it. He glanced back at the village in seeing distance. There was no one close by to see him take off or even see the rare creature. After a moment and an annoyed snort from the Snow Caribou, Kowalski decided it wouldn't hurt to just follow. If he went back to tell someone he was going, it would probably just leave. And it was not as if he would be gone long. Without anymore hesitation, he followed.

Going back to the present, Kowalski felt slightly ill. He always did when he thought of that day. The Snow Caribou had been the one to lead him far off from the village and to the edge of the territory where the roads were. It had been then when the Snow Caribou had disappeared when he wasn't looking at it. It was then he spotted the slaver cart and this whole trouble started. Why would a creature of peace and tranquility lead him into this?

Stressed again, Kowalski turned off his back and dove down into the water. He stayed in the deep end for a bit, trying to sort things out. Eventually he did need air though. He came up and broke the surface, taking in the air. He was going to dive down again when he noticed Julien's presence on the edge of the pool.

"That was being such a long time for being under water. How were you of the doing that?" Julien asked.

Kowalski considered giving a snide answer back. He then spotted the curious look in Julien's eyes, as if he really was interested in the answer. After a moment, Kowalski decided it wouldn't hurt to answer the question seriously.

"It's the way those from the Snow Lands are built, I guess. Not that the Polar Bear clan does as much swimming as the Walrus clan and my clan. But still they- and you have now idea what I'm talking about, do you?" Kowalski said.

Julien shook his head.

"I not having a slightest of the idea. What in the world is a walrus? It is sounding like some type of nut." Julien said.

"Don't be silly. Walrus clan members are... well how best to explain..." Kowalski said. After a moment of thinking he climbed out of the pool.

Kowalski did not notice the way Julien stared at his dripping wet form as he grabbed a nearby towel. Just something about the wet hair and leggings sticking close to the penguin humanoid brought a little heat to Julien's face and ears. Thankfully Julien managed to pull away his gaze before Kowalski looked his way.

"I think drawing them out will help give you a better picture of what they look like. Do you have a hide to draw on and something to dip into a ink bowl and draw with?"

Julien looked at Kowalski again, this time with a confused look.

"Are you meaning... paper and pen?" Julien finally asked.

It was Kowalski's turn to look confused.

"What are those?"

Kowalski got the feeling that maybe he was going to learn some stuff from this teaching session.


	5. Chapter 5

Going into the library after Kowalski dried off, Kowalski saw his first Giraffe Humanoid. Not that Kowalski knew what a giraffe was. So spot pattern that graced the giraffe humanoids body, knobby horns on his head, and the long ropey tail looked odd to Kowalski.

The matter of clothing the giraffe humanoid wore was odd to Kowalski. Mostly a bright red colored clothing really. What really caught Kowalski's eye were the four golden rings set on the giraffe humanoid's neck.

"Ah, Melmick-" Julien started.

The giraffe humanoid jumped, dropping the books in his arms. After seeing Julien he relaxed, though only slightly.

"Oh, it's you your majesty. And uh.. it's Melman, your majesty. Not that you can't call me anything else if you want to. After all, your the king. I don't take any offense to-" Melman started to babble.

"You may want to stop and breathe." Kowalski commented.

Melman took Kowalski's advice and took a deep breath. After getting air back into him and calming down, he looked to Julien and Kowalski.

"Can I help you, your majesty? It's not often you come in here..." Melman said.

"We are only in the needing of paper and pen." Julien said.

Melman nodded and scrambled off to get the needed items. As he left, Kowalski looked around the room in silence. A sense of wonder filled him as he did.

"These... are books, aren't they?" Kowalski asked.

Julien gave Kowalski an odd look.

"Of course they are being books. Not that they are being very interesting." Julien said.

Kowalski didn't seem to be listening to Julien now. Instead, he reached out to a shelf and pulled a red covered book off it. He open the cover carefully, then looked at the first page. A slight look of disappointment was on his face when he looked down at the page.

"What is wrong?" Julien asked, surprised by the sudden mood change.

"I can't understand this. I've always heard about books from the Walrus clan. That they are keepers of knowledge. But... I can't understand any of these symbols on the pages." Kowalski said.

"You do not know of how to read?" Julien asked, tilting his head in puzzlement.

"I... guess not. You must understand. Our supplies are very limited in our lands. To waste ink on so many different symbols, it makes no sense. It's too bad... I've always wanted to read a book." Kowalski said.

Julien was silent. He seemed to be thinking Kowalski's statement over when Melman returned, a small,blank journal and a quill pen with it's ink holder in his arms.

"I found what you needed, your majesty." Melman said.

"Yes, yes. Just be putting it on the table there." Julien said, waving absently at the nearby table.

Kowalski was still trying to puzzle out the meaning of the words he called symbols on the book pages when Julien gently took his arm. He looked up quickly in shock and for a moment considered hitting Julien. The gentle smile on Julien's face however stayed that action.

"So, now you can be showing me what a Walrus looks like." Julien said.

With a slight nod, Kowalski returned to the book to it's right place on the shelf and went over to the table. It took him a few tries to get use to the quill pen. But once he got use to it, he began to draw the features of a walrus clan member.

By time the afternoon was over, Kowalski had gone through not only features and life styles of both the walrus and polar bear clan, but started a bit on his own. Julien for once, did not fall asleep during a lesson.

"King Blowhole, King Julien sent a reply from your last message." a lobster humanoid palace guard said as he bowed, then offered the message scroll.

The blueish grey haired dolphin humanoid shifted his tail to the side, then took the message scroll. Despite having to wear an patch over one eye, he read the reply quite quickly. A frown slowly formed on his face.

"It figures." he said with a snort as he placed the scroll down. "Julien ignores my wishes to do a little digging on his land, yet he'll gladly invite me to one of those inane parties of his."

"But... isn't the digging project important?" one of the other lobster guards asked.

Blowhole glared at the lobster humanoid that spoke, and then threw the scroll at him.

"Of course it's important! It's the only reason I'm nice to that idiot they call an monarch. I swear, I'm this close to just starting a war just so I can get to his stupid land!" Blowhole raged.

The guards were silent this time as Blowhole took deep breaths to calm himself down. After he was calmer, he started to think.

"Maybe I will attend that part of his. If only to learn anything I can use against him." Blowhole said.

He turned his gaze to the guard that he had thrown the scroll at. The guard cringed, expecting more abuse.

"Get a messenger ready. I will inform Julien I am coming to his party." Blowhole said to the guard.

The guard bowed and went off to follow the order. Blowhole sighed and leaned back against his throne.

"Hopefully, I'm not wasting my time." he said.

The voices were bickering again. Rico did his best to ignore them. After all, the deities were known for talking a lot. Not always to him, but even if they weren't talking to him they seemed to let him in on their conversations.

"He shouldn't make it! He should die and become one with the snow!" one particularly gruff, male voice snarled. Rico almost snarled at that voice for talking about Skipper that way, but knew better. No one else heard these voices after all.

"Your only saying that because he is of penguin clan, Grimth. You would rather the whole clan die out because they do not only worship you." a female voice that was sharp as an ice shard said.

Grimth snorted.

"Like they worship you anymore then they worship me, Crytiria. You would think the goddess of the ice and snow would get more attention from them." Grimth said.

"Well, they-" another male, more distinguished voice started.

"Oh, don't you even start in with your oh so precious wisdom, Ulfrim. Besides, they pretty well ignore you too. No, it's precious Heranell who gets their attention." Grimth snarled.

A gentle, female voice spoke up. Rico liked this one. He found her voice less grating and at times she would try to soothe him when the other voices got over whelming.

"I do not decide who they worship, Grimth. None of us do. Also, I find it horrible you wish death on any mortal, worship you or not. What kind of deity are you?" Heranell chided.

"A warrior deity." Grimth shot back.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say that was a joke." Crytiria said.

Rico wished they would all just shut up now. Actually, he wished he could stop hearing them altogether. He wasn't sure, but he thought that the deities picking him to talk to had been what ruined his communication skills.

Everyone thought it was the many blows he took to the head when he was in the polar bear clan, fighting among them. Sometimes he wondered if maybe the blows did have something to do with it. Whatever the case, soon before he returned to his true clan, the voices first started.

The moment he heard them, a great pain had filled his head. It was as if he could feel the mental dam being put up on his speaking skills. To this way he never knew way though he asked in his mind. The deities would tell him things at times, but he could tell no one of what they said. He did not see the point.

He couldn't tell them Skipper was going to be okay. He couldn't tell them that something thought long dead was going to return. Most of all, he couldn't tell them how their world would change.


	6. Chapter 6

Kowalski was dreaming. He knew he had to be. The screaming he heard, the feeling of the ground shaking, he darkness, it was all some sort of nightmare. Still, he could not shake the fear and in his dream, he curled into a ball, trying to will it all away. It didn't seem to be working. There was still screaming, still shaking, still darkness. And now he swore he heard things crawling in the dark. It was almost too much when a hand came onto his shoulder. Kowalski slowly uncurled as he found the touch gentle and loving.

Looking up, the figure was unidentifiable. Kowalski wasn't even sure of the gender. All he knew was that the figure was glowing. He couldn't help but think the words 'glowing like the sun.', for some reason. That was when the figure took him in his arms and hugged Kowalski close.

He was safe. Kowalski knew that the moment the arms were wrapped around him. The screaming had stopped, the shaking had ceased, and the light from the glowing figure was spreading throughout the dream scape.

It was at that moment a knocking noise woke Kowalski. With a slight groan, he snapped out of his dream and peered up from his bed. Who would be knocking on his door? The guards were pretty well the only ones who came in here, and they never knocked. The knock sounded again.

"Um, come in?" Kowalski said in an unsure tone.

He was surprised when Melmen opened the door and stepped through the doorway. A few books, some paper, and a quill and ink jar were carefully balanced in his arms.

"Morning. Hope your doing well. You are feeling well, aren't you? Because if your sick, I really don't want to be here and catch it..." Melman started.

"Um, no. I'm positive I'm not sick. What I'm not positive about is why your here. Not that I mean any disrespect. I just never expected you to come in here." Kowalski said.

"Not surprising, I probably wouldn't have ever came in here if Julien didn't want me to teach you to read." Melman said, placing the items that had come so close to falling over, onto a small dresser.

For a moment, Kowalski was struck dumb by what Melman had said. It didn't take him long to get his senses back.

"Wait... Julien told you to teach me how to read?" Kowalski asked, wondering if maybe this was some sort of joke.

"Oh yes. He actually wanted to teach you himself, but Maurice reminded him he had kingly duties. And when that didn't work, he also reminded him that he's not the best reader in the world himself. So teaching wouldn't be the best thing for him to do." Melman explained.

Kowalski just sat there, unsure of what to say now. Melman didn't seem to notice this as he was picking up some paper, the quill, and ink jar.

"We should start by going over the alphabet..."

"Your Majesty, I think we need to talk." Maurice said to Julien.

Julien glanced at Maurice. Normally his attendant did not sound so grave. He had a feeling Maurice was about to tell him something he did not want to hear, but he was going to hear it anyways.

"Fine, be with the speaking of your mind, Maurice." Julien said, waving a hand almost dismissively.

"I don't mean to pry, I really don't. But... just what are your feelings to your pet?" Maurice asked.

Julien paused and looked to Maurice. The look on Julien's face was almost calculating.

"Why are you asking me this, Maurice?" Julien asked.

"I think you know why." Maurice said.

Another pause from Julien told Maurice that Julien did indeed know what Maurice was talking about.

"It... is not the problem that you are making it." Julien said quickly, though it was far too late to throw Maurice off his trail.

"Really? Then I suppose your going to tell me you have no feelings for your pet? A pet need I remind you you don't even know the name of." Maurice said.

Julien's fingers drummed on the arm of his throne. He was trying to act as if the subject was not making his nervous.

"That is because he has not told me his name yet." Julien said.

"And why do you even care about that? If it was anyone else, you would be making up a name. At the risk of over stepping my boundaries, I think your far too attached to him. Attached to the point where you may start breaking one of the civilized world's biggest taboos." Maurice said.

"I do not know why inter species dating is being considered so bad...Besides, it is not as if we could even produce an hybrid child." Julien said.

"You just can't break that taboo." Maurice said, shaking his head.

A look of anger flashed into Julien's eyes.

"I am king! I may do what I wish!" Julien cried.

"Of course you can. But that doesn't mean the members of your kingdom would accept it. Please listen to what I'm saying. To go any further would be disaster. I suggest just releasing or in the very least, giving him to someone else." Maurice said, his voice sounding more strained.

"No! Absolutely no!" Julien snarled, glaring at Maurice now. " I am no longer in the mood for your words. Leave my side. I do not wish to see you for the rest of the day."

Maurice looked shocked. Never had he been ordered away from Julien's side for that length of time. After getting over his shock, he turned and started out. But not without the last word.

"I do hope you know what your doing your majesty. If not, may the sky spirits help you."


	7. Chapter 7

Quick Note: Sorry it took so long to get back to this, folks. A mix of lack of inspiration, depression, and just plain forgetting about the story slowed me down. But I'll try to update more often, and I appreciate all the reviews I've gotten. So thanks for reviewing. Heck, thanks for reading.

A week passed and already Kowalski was picking up reading rather quickly. Quick enough that it surprised Melman how fast he was learning. Granted his reading was still a little slow and he couldn't read the more complicated books just yet. Still, he spent much time in the library, reading a book.

Melman noted that Kowalski preferred the non fiction books. It made sense as the penguin humanoid had a love of learning. He especially enjoyed learning all he could about the other kingdoms. He was reading a book on the lemur kingdom ironically enough when Julien came into the library.

Julien nodded to the guard that was on Kowalski watching duty, signaling that he may take his leave. The guard looked unsure, but he left. Kowalski hardly noticed this exchange, too buried into the book. The lemur king had to clear his throat to get Kowalski to look up from the book.

"Oh.. I'm sorry. I didn't hear you come in." Kowalski said.

"I was of the thinking that." Julien said, now glancing at the book in Kowalski's hands. "Are you of the enjoying that book?"

"Yes, though I'm a little confused on the Sky Spirits issue. Are they deities or creatures created by deities?" Kowalski asked.

Julien paused, not quite sure how to answer that question.

"They are just being what they are being. Sky Spirits." Julien said with a shrug.

Kowalski didn't look too satisfied with the answer, but asked no more. He did look like he had something on his mind though. Julien was going to ask what when Kowalski spoke.

"It's Kowalski." Kowalski said suddenly.

Julien paused and looked to Kowalski in confusion. Kowalski cleared his throat and spoke again.

"My name... it's Kowalski."

The look on Julien's face now was a look of shock. For a moment, there was silence. Julien suddenly smiled and nodded.

"It is being good to know your name." Julien said. "I am guessing you are of the trusting me now, then?"

Kowalski nodded.

" Yes. It's funny, I never thought I would be sharing my name with you. I thought you were nothing but a spoiled fool. But now... well, I guess your not that bad." Kowalski said.

Julien was still smiling. He stepped closer to Kowalski and to Kowalski's surprise, took his hands into his.

"I am glad I am not being as bad as you were thinking." Julien said before pausing a moment. "Kowalski... I am thinking I will like to being saying that name a lot."

That was when Julien kissed Kowalski. In shock, Kowalski did not react at first. His eyes were wide and his heart was racing, but he did not try to fight Julien off or kiss back. The heat he felt in his cheeks and body told him he was blushing.

Moments later, Kowalski finally made a decision on how to react. Closing his eyes, he kissed back. Kowalski wrapped his arms around Julien. In response, Julien's tail was lightly twining around Kowalski's right leg. For a moment later they kissed before Kowalski pulled back a little.

"How long?" Kowalski asked.

"I always thought you were of the good looking since you were first brought to me. As for the truly caring part, I am supposing it was after you had fainted that one time." Julien said.

"Ah... I guess I started caring for you when you were interested in learning about my homeland." Kowalski said.

"Are.. we being an 'us' then?" Julien asked.

Kowalski paused for a moment. He knew his next words could change everything. Julien looked tense as Kowalski considered everything. After a half minute, Kowalski gave his answer by kissing Julien again.

Even after all his recovery time, Skipper's shoulder still hurt. He was sure the pain of the projectile that hit him would never go away. Not that it really bothered him. It would serve as a reminder to be more vigilant.

While he was glad to be alive, there was still an problem. Though the polar bear clan and the rest of his clan had driven off the invaders, the invaders had not left without prizes. Somehow, amidst all the madness of the battle, some of the invaders had gotten a hold of some clan members.

Private was taking that hard, despite the fact he had done all he could to protect the non warrior clan members. The slavers had shot him as well, leaving him for dead. Like Skipper, he was lucky to be alive. He still blamed himself, no matter how many times everyone told him that he did all he could.

For the moment, Skipper was standing on his familiar cliff side post, the scent of fish from the sea blown in by the wind a comforting smell as he stood there. Even with the distractions of his thoughts and the fish scent, Skipper knew someone was coming up to the cliff. He didn't speak until the being reached the top.

"I see your wounds have healed well, Private." Skipper said, glancing over the younger penguin humanoid.

Having never been in a real fight or have gotten wounded badly enough to gain a scar before, the ugly scar left on his chest stood out. Private was just lucky enough that it was in the chest feather area and that most likely the feathers there would regrow and cover the scar. He had also been lucky on a less superficial level. The projectile shot into his chest had been close to his heart before a walrus clan healer manged to dig it out.

By all accounts, Private was considered a full grown clan member due to his loyalty and ordeal. Skipper still couldn't see Private as anything more as that younger chick that once would follow after him and Kowalski even when he was not wanted.

"Yes... it healed. It still hurts a little though. Does your wound still hurt too?" Private asked.

Skipper nodded.

"It still hurts, yes. More worried about how your recovery has gone. You were a lot closer to joining the snow and ice then I was." Skipper said.

"Everything save the slight pain is fine. Well... not everything..." Private said, casting his look down.

"You fought as hard as you could, Private. What happened back in the caves was not your fault." Skipper said.

"No! It was my fault! I didn't try hard enough... I... I can't just stay here while the deities know what happens to the clan members taken. Skipper... I want permission to go on a quest!" Private cried.

Skipper turned to face Private, studying the young penguin humanoids face for signs on how serious he was about this. A quest was not something to take lightly after all. Private looked serious, not looking ready to back down on his request even under the calculating look of his leader.

A few minutes passed by before Skipper spoke again.

"No, you can't go on this quest-" Skipper started.

"But Skipper-"

"alone. You can't go on this quest alone. To send anyone alone into unknown lands against unknown beings isn't right. So, you will not go alone." Skipper said.

He paused a moment more before finishing what he said.

" I'm going too."


End file.
